All posts by h716a5.icu

West Brom have twice missed out on signing attacking hotshot Ollie Watkins over the years and now their most recent decision is looking worse by the week…

What was the word?

According to Sky Sports during the summer transfer window, then-Baggies boss Slaven Bilic was said to be an admirer of the former Brentford forward and was interested in signing him.

This has since been backed up by The Athletic’s Steve Madeley, who claimed that Watkins was the top target before the club moved onto Karlan Grant.

Whilst in the past, Darren Moore revealed that Albion rejected the chance to sign him from Exeter City before his move to the Bees.

One that got away?

Now the 25-year-old finds himself down the road at Aston Villa, where he has set the Premier League alight with his goalscoring exploits – only further making those calls look absolutely disastrous.

Currently, Sam Allardyce has two major problems as West Brom boss.

One, they cannot stop leaking goals – they hold the record of the Premier League’s worst defence, and two, they cannot score goals either – Grant has bagged just once since his £12m arrival in the summer.

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Matheus Pereira is practically carrying the Baggies on his back having scored four and assisted three of their 15 league goals (46.6%).

Over at Villa Park, Dean Smith’s side find themselves in surprise contention for a European spot and that largely comes down to the signing of Watkins as last term in narrowly avoiding relegation, they lacked a true goalscorer.

An average of 1.07 goals scored per game has risen to 1.83 in less than a year. That is no coincidence as top-scorer Watkins has bagged eight in 18 starts, also averaging 2.8 shots per match, via WhoScored.

No wonder he was dubbed “a machine” by Bees programme editor Chris Deacon.

By comparison, Grant is managing only 1.2 shots per game with Pereira and Conor Gallager a fraction better by 0.2, so the Villa man usurps the whole Albion squad with ease.

Both Grant and Watkins came from the Championship this summer and only one looks right at home in the big time – hint: he’s not wearing blue and white stripes every weekend.

Villa clearly struck gold over the 5 foot 11 dynamo, who earns £75k-per-week, all whilst the Baggies continue to suffer amid a relegation dogfight.

Smith once lauded his leading man “a hell of a player” when signing him at Brentford, while Trevor Sinclair described him as “lethal” and compared his style to Jermain Defoe to fans on Twitter.

It remains to be seen whether Bilic or Allardyce would’ve got the same returns out of him, but the ability is clearly there.

Guochuan Lai’s decision to not pay up for the £27m-rated Watkins could be one they regret massively for a very long time – if not forever, especially if they go down.

He’s transformed their rivals from relegation favourites to a top ten side almost overnight. That shouldn’t have been allowed.

AND in other news Exclusive: West Brom urged to secure 28 y/o who could fix problems…

Since Brendan Rodgers took over at Leicester, the Midlands outfit has been flying in the Premier League. The Foxes arguably look the closest to securing a Premier League title since their underdog win back in 2015/16.

The former Liverpool and Celtic boss has reeled in blockbuster new recruits including Youri Tielemans and Wesley Fofana. But it’s not just the big money signings that Leicester can gloat about. Rodgers has enticed one of the country’s most exciting young talents to the King Power Stadium in the form of James Justin.

The England youth international has rapidly become one of Leicester’s most important players. He hasn’t missed a single minute of Premier League action this season and has contributed a goal and two assists as well as seven clean sheets, as per Transfermarkt.

Speaking to Football FanCast, Rob Lee has waxed lyrical about the 22-year-old defender and his promise of a very decorated future.

“Leicester sign a lot of good, younger players,” the pundit said. “James Justin, they got from Luton for £4million. He’ll be the next England left-back, or right-back because he can play either.”

Indeed, Justin boats extreme versatility and has already showcased this in his short time at Leicester. This season alone, the Luton-born defender has played on both defensive flanks and has also taken midfield positions in his stride as well.

England have the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James in their ranks after impressing at club level. According to premierleague.com, Justin is in the top ten players this season for most tackles made so far. His 51 tackles trumps the likes of Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker-Peters.

Rodgers recently praised his defender’s performances as of late and branded him an “outstanding” player to have on his books.

Already, the £35,000 per week talent is putting himself on a pedestal for Gareth Southgate and if Leicester continue to turn the gears in the Premier League, Justin could find himself following a similar path to his fellow young internationals.

In other news, Rob Lee says Danny Ings could be Vardy’s successor…

Many Everton fans were left to slam the display of Andre Gomes despite their 2-0 away win over Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

The Goodison Park club earned their first win over their bitter rivals at Anfield in the division for over two decades with a goal from Richarlison and a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty to inflict Jurgen Klopp’s fourth loss at home in a row.

While there were some very good performances for Carlo Ancelotti’s team, Gomes’ flattered to deceive, picking up a booking fairly late on in the first half and making some needless fouls that could well have accumulated to get himself a second bookable offence and thus a red card.

The central midfield player lost out on around 92% of his duels and also failed to record a single shot, successful dribble, interception, key pass or accurate cross in the game, earning him a very measly 5.7 overall rating on Sofascore as he was substituted off just short of the hour mark.

Everton fan reaction to Gomes display

These Toffees supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with one Blue even going as far as to call the former FC Barcelona man a ‘liability’:

“Get Gomes out… too timid defensively #LIVEVE”

Credit: @mmcguriman

“Cannot sit back for 90 minutes and hang on. Gomes off, just giving the ball away and offers no protection at all #LIVEVE”

Credit: @taylor_rich1978

“Is Ancelotti not seeing the same game as the rest of us? This ain’t working lad #LIVEVE get some grafters on. Doucoure garbage. Gomes garbage. No tackles going in. Garbage”

Credit: @DjAnt1B

“Glad he’s been subbed, had a poor game all round and was a red card in waiting #Gomes #EFC”

Credit: @Trev_EFC1878

“Gomes off and also sold #efc”

Credit: @MaisOuiMaisOui_

“Gomes becoming a liability out there #EFC”

Credit: @SchneiderErnie

In other news, find out why a Merseyside derby preview left fans fuming here!

Southampton’s woeful run of form in the Premier League continued on Monday evening as they were beaten 1-0 at Goodison Park by Everton.

Richarlison’s early goal was enough to separate the two teams, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side only threatening in the final few moments of the game, after going the vast majority of the game without a shot on target.

Although they only lost by one goal, the South Coast club produced some atrocious defending at times, especially from free-kick situations, where they would have gone 2-0 down to a Michael Keane header if not for a tight offside call.

One man who disappointed in his display was centre-back Jannik Vestergaard.

Considering the former Borussia Monchengladbach man stands at six foot six, you would expect him to dominate in the air from this dead-ball situations, but nearly every free-kick from Lucas Digne seemed to find an Everton head.

As per SofaScore, during the 90 minutes, the Danish international would win just two out of eight of his aerial duels, whilst he would win none of his three ground duels, resulting in an overall tally of 2/11 – which saw him register a shocking 18% success rate at Goodison Park.

SofaScore rated the defender a 6.6/10 for his performance, suggesting that he was one of the better performers in Hasenhuttl’s side, but in truth, he looked way off the standards he set earlier in the season.

The 28-year-old defender, who earns £60k per week at Southampton, has enjoyed an excellent Premier League campaign so far, averaging a superb 7.11 rating for his performances in the top-flight, but he was certainly nowhere near that level on Monday evening.

Vestergaard averages 3.8 aerials won per game in the Premier League, which emphasises how much he struggled against Everton’s threat in the air at Goodison Park, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin winning 10 aerial duels on the evening.

When his aerial ability is called into question, you worry what else Vestergaard can offer in this Southampton team, as his lack of pace was evident when Richarlison was afforded far too much space to run in behind the Saints defence and open the scoring.

Vestergaard also missed a late chance to equalise when he hit straight at Jordan Pickford in the area to compound a poor all-round display from the Dane.

And, in other news… Saints handed huge boost with £13.5m-rated gem who can put relegation fears to bed.

West Brom have had a poor record when it comes to finding strikers to lead their line.

In recent seasons alone, we’ve seen the likes of Kenneth Zohore and Charlie Austin come and go, almost in a flash, but it could have been all so different had they kept hold of Kemar Roofe.

The 28-year-old has thrived since the Hawthorns hierarchy – at the time, Jeremy Peace was chairman – sanctioned his permanent exit to Oxford United for an undisclosed fee.

At the time, he was only 23 and had shown glimpses with six goals in 16 starts, but within three weeks of the 2014/15 season finishing, Roofe was sold to the League Two club for what was surely a minimal fee.

He has since blossomed into a hugely prolific goalscorer, making that decision to let him go look sillier with each passing season.

Roofe has since scored a whopping 77 goals across spells at Leeds United, Anderlecht and SPFL front-runners Rangers in the subsequent six seasons following his permanent departure – that’s an average of 12 goals per season…

Where is Roofe now?

The Walsall-born frontman is loving life at Ibrox this term, scoring 12 times across the SPFL and Europa League.

As mentioned above, that same number is his average per season, so he’s on track to bypass that easily – and more damningly, this level of return is something that Albion has not seen in several seasons.

On their way to promotion from the Championship last term, only Austin (ten) and Hal Robson-Kane (ten) could hit double figures.

The 2018/19 campaign was an anomaly, with Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez both surpassed 20 for the season – neither remained at the club.

Whilst between 2015/16 and their relegation season (2017/18), no Baggies player managed to reach nine or more goals, so evidently, there’s been a long-standing trend at the Hawthorns.

Perhaps, Tony Pulis – West Brom manager at the time – should’ve considered the future a bit more whilst in charge, just maybe Roofe would have benefitted from another loan spell and just maybe, the Midlands outfit would have benefited from his own ability, or at the very least, more money.

Leeds United eventually sold the Baggies youth product to Belgian giants Anderlecht for £7m, which should have Albion reeling even more than they already should be.

It was one calamitous and short-sighted decision to offload him and one they are still paying for now.

AND in other news, West Brom could find their next Jason Koumas in 19 y/o “real talent”…

Newcastle United have been urged to sign Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic by Lee Clark.

Speaking to the Daily Record, the former St. James’ Park faithful ace said:

“Kris is an outstanding player and I really feel for the Old Firm because it’s tough for them to compete with smaller clubs in bigger leagues.

“They have such a worldwide fan base and when I managed up there it really hit home how big the two clubs are but they can’t compete financially with the giants in Europe.

“I just hope they can get to the level where they can be competitive in the Champions League and keep a hold of the likes of Kris Ajer.

“Well, maybe not in Kris’s case specifically because he’s been linked with Newcastle United in some north east media outlets!

“So with my Newcastle United fans head on I hope that happens! My mates have all been asking me about him since he was mentioned and I told them if it comes off we’ll be getting a real top player.”

Newcastle should sign Ajer

Ajer should be on the list of transfer targets for the North East club when the summer window comes around, providing that they avoid relegation from the Premier League of course.

The central defender is a senior international for Norway and already has as many as eight trophies to his name, despite being just 22 years of age.

One could certainly question the quality of football in Scotland compared to England, but it shows that he possesses a winning mentality, an attribute that would certainly be useful on Tyneside.

Ajer has also performed very well in helping his team to those successes, winning no fewer than 5.8 of his duels per game in the Scottish Premiership so far in the 2020/21 term, as well as averaging 3.3 clearances, 1.4 interceptions and 1.3 tackles a game, keeping 13 clean sheets in the process (Sofascore).

With a six-foot-four frame as well, the towering centre-back should have no problems at all adapting to the physical nature of the English top flight.

Nonetheless, Ajer is certainly a player that Steve Bruce’s team should be keeping an eye on.

In other news, find out what inside claim on the potential takeover Liam Kennedy has dropped here!

Paul Robinson has claimed that Matt Ritchie will not stay at Newcastle United in the summer if Steve Bruce is still manager at the St. James’ Park faithful.

This comes after the reported bust-up between the duo on the training ground at the North East club, with Bruce physically confronting Ritchie and barging into him after the former AFC Bournemouth man called him a ‘coward’.

Ritchie was an unused substitute in the Tyneside club’s last game in the 0-0 draw away at West Brom in the Premier League at Sunday lunchtime, despite Bruce only making two substitutions with the Magpies crying out for some more onus in attack.

Speaking to Football Insider, Robinson has claimed that the Scotland international will move on in the upcoming summer transfer window if Bruce is still manager at the Toon:

“I think his time there is limited.

“It looks more than likely he’ll be heading for an exit. If Bruce is still there in the summer it looks very likely that Ritchie won’t be.

“When you have a bust-up with the manager it straight away puts the manager’s authority into question. It is never comfortable and it is very rarely repairable.

“I think in this case it is a relationship that is irreparable. I think we will see him move on if Steve Bruce still be there.”

Newcastle should keep Ritchie

NUFC should be looking to keep hold of Ritchie, even if Bruce is still confirmed to be in charge beyond the 2020/21 term.

The 31-year-old is an experienced head and a big character in the dressing room, which can be useful for Newcastle in terms of trying to get results on the pitch.

He still has the ability as well, with former Cherries manager Jason Tindall describing the winger as a ‘fantastic’ player amid reported transfer interest from his team back in the January window.

Nonetheless, Ritchie could be a key player for the Magpies come the start of next season.

In other news, find out what details have been shared on a key Premier League decision on the potential takeover here!

Former Wolves striker Marlon Harewood has warned Nuno Espirito Santo against selling Adama Traore this summer in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast.

Traore was in excellent form for Wolves last season, finishing the 2019/20 Premier League campaign with nine assists. However, the 25-year-old has not been able to replicate that kind of form this time round, with that tally dropping down to one this term.

And now, according to the MailOnline, Traore could be on the move, as Wolves are willing to listen to offers once the transfer window opens again. For Harewood, though, selling the Spanish attacker would be a huge mistake.

When asked if Wolves could replace Traore, Harewood told FFC:

“I don’t know. I don’t think they could, to be fair, because he’s been another phenomenal player that’s gone on and taken things on. His speed, his power, everything. Obviously he just needs to add the extra bit of goals to his performance, but he’s a player that would be missed by Wolves and they will have to try and keep hold of him.”

While Traore certainly has not been at his best this season and still needs to work on his end product, failing to score a single league goal in the current campaign, Wolves would be losing that X factor in their side if they do end up selling him.

He is still arguably the best dribbler in the Premier League, with few players being able to carry the ball in the same manner that he does. The former Aston Villa and Middlesbrough winger is currently averaging 4.1 dribbles per game, the most in the Premier League (via WhoScored).

Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood has been handed an injury problem ahead of his return to the England U21 fold.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the striker has been forced to withdraw from international duty with an unidentified injury.

The report suggests that the Red Devils are hopeful that the problem will not keep him restricted to the sidelines for too long but it will nonetheless be a concern for United and, of course, for Greenwood himself.

Before he picked up the problem, it was appearing that the 19-year-old was beginning to regain his form in front of goal.

He ended a long goal drought at the weekend, netting his first strike since January in the team’s damaging 3-1 defeat to Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Having scored 19 goals last season but just five so far this term, the international break would have given him the opportunity to continue his recent form with the Young Lions set to begin their UEFA U21 Euro campaign against Switzerland, before matches against Portugal and Croatia.

He will now not be available for Aidy Boothroyd’s team and Greenwood’s absence will be of concern to Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

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Manchester United have been handed an attacking injury crisis in recent times with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani all suffering from their own problems.

Whilst the latter two did make their returns from injury in the defeat at Leicester, any reoccurrence, coupled with Greenwood’s problem, could see the Red Devils extremely light in attacking positions.

It is clear that Solskjaer is a big fan of the youngster, with him stating that the £45m-rated forward is “top class”, so his absence will be felt.

It will be hugely disappointing that the Red Devils and the Young Lions will be missing a player of such calibre, especially with the upcoming tournament such a great opportunity for Greenwood to continue re-finding his clinical touch.

If he performed well at the U21 level, which he was more than capable of given his immense quality, he could have returned to United full of confidence, but that will no longer be the case, which will more than likely be a bit of a blow to his manager.

AND in more news, the Red Devils must regret not moving for a midfielder currently starring for a Premier League rival…

Liverpool could be set to strengthen their forward positions in the summer with a bargain move for Schalke 04 forward Matthew Hoppe.

According to Goal, the Reds are interested in making a move for the 20-year-old forward, with Brad Friedel saying “time will tell” whether the club elect to bring him to Anfield.

Considering the American’s age and immense potential, he is an addition who would make perfect sense for Jurgen Klopp.

Hoppe has been one of the few bright sparks for Schalke this season, with the Bundesliga giants quickly heading for relegation to the second tier of German football.

He is currently the club’s top scorer this season in all competitions with five goals, which is approximately 31% of their total goal haul in the league this term. For context, Schalke’s next highest scorers are Mark Uth and Benito Raman, who have just two strikes each to their name.

Hoppe was crucial in the club’s only win of the campaign, bagging a hat-trick in a 4-0 rout against Hoffenheim. New Schalke boss Dimitrios Grammozis has recently praised the 20-year-old for his performances, saying: “Matthew has done really well in the games he has played in so far. Looking at the way he has scored his goals, he hasn’t just been lucky, but has shown real quality.” [via bulinews.com]

Whilst his goal record is not all too inspiring when looking at some of Liverpool’s reported transfer targets from elsewhere in Europe, it is certainly better than Divock Origi’s poor count for the season. The Belgian has scored just one goal in 17 appearances in all competitions.

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Hoppe also outperforms the former Lille man in his general play, too. According to WhoScored, the Schalke man is averaging 1.1 shots, 0.4 key passes and 0.6 dribbles per game. Meanwhile, Origi is averaging just 0.7, 0.3 and 0.2 respectively for those metrics.

Considering that Hoppe is toiling in a team who are marooned right at the bottom of the Bundesliga table, his statistics are certainly impressive and would likely improve if he played in a better side.

Rated at just £2.7m by Transfermarkt, a move for the American striker could certainly be a bargain buy for Jurgen Klopp and Michael Edwards.

AND in more news, away from arrivals, the Reds must be sure to hold onto a current Anfield defender…